We’re in a never-ending summer mode and this heat wave is calling for homemade peach lemonade! Thanks to the talented Emilie Murmure, food stylist and cook for this delish recipe perfectly on time for the August peach harvest. Scroll down!

I’m thirsty just looking at this picture. And I know I’ve said this before but our Moroccan ceramics make everything look SO good. Yum! Have a look at our entire Moroccan ceramic collection right here.

Ingredients

4 cups of cold water (1L).

1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (250 ml).

1/2 cup of honey (or maple syrup) (125ml).

2 ripe, peeled peaches.

Instructions

Blend together the water, the lemon juice, the honey, and peaches until you get a very slick lemonade. Use a strainer to obtain a smooth texture. Add some ice cubes and few lemon slices to decorate.

Tips from Emilie:The trick with peaches is to let them mature on your counter for at least 2-3 days so they are ripe and juicy. However, beware when making this lemonade, peaches oxidize fast (and you don’t want to serve brownish lemonade!) so make it very last minute, use cold water and add lots of ice cubes.

This new collaboration with Karèle, the local macrame artist behind Boho Montreal, really resonates with our mission. Shining the spotlight on talented artists and creating exclusive products with them is something that’s very dear to my heart and it’s really at the core of Baba Souk. I remember creating Baba Souk for this specific reason back in 2012! I’ve always had so much respect and admiration for artists and artisans. I hope you’ll love this macrame wall hanging collection we’ve created just for you. We had our clients in mind while creating these pieces, big-hearted ladies with a soft side for everything handmade, pretty textures and beautiful colors.

As I am always so interested in the story behind an artist’s journey, I’ve prepared a little interview with Karèle. I hope you’ll love it. Scroll down to read everything!

1. What’s the story behind your becoming a Macrame artist?

I remember during my teen years being frustrated by the fact that I wasn’t allowed to personalize my bedroom decor, my mother was very conservative. When I left my parents’ house, I was looking forward to decorating my entire apartment. And of course I was really inspired by Pinterest. I would restore antiques and go thrifting to find the best vintage pieces, I was looking for objects that spoke to my style and had a story.

As far as I can remember, I was always drawn to a picture perfect decor and about 4 years ago, while scrolling through Pinterest, my heart skipped a beat when for the first time I saw a California style wall hanging appear on my screen. As much as I wanted one, I couldn’t find macrame wall hangings here in Montreal and so I thought I should try to make some. I had a feeling it would be a huge trend. My goal was to develop my own aesthetic and create the wall hangings that I would love to see in my own decor.

2. Did you always know you would be an artist?

I always knew I would be a leader, I felt like I had the entrepreneurial vibe under my skin and I thought I would be rich! Ha! I’m far from being rich, I’m juggling with my own business and managing a restaurant at the same time. I’ve studied Visaul Arts and Fashion Design, I’m very crafty. I’m all about the DIY lifestyle. However, I love the adrenaline that comes with working at the restaurant and I love the contrast with the very meditative art of making macrame and wall hangings.

(This large macrame Karèle created for our collab is just stunning! Shop it right here)

3. What do you love most about doing what you do?

I love that I don’t have to do the same job full time. I work on my business from Monday to Wednesday and I give macrame workshops sometimes on weekends. I’m not the kind of person who likes to do the same thing every day. I love to hop from one task to the other, I really enjoy working hard. I get bored when I have nothing to do, I’m a bit of a workaholic.

(My personal fave! I’m in love with the color combination and the merge of macrame techniques and weaving makes them so pretty. Shop it right here!)

4. What piece of work are you most proud of?

I made a 12’x10′ macrame for a restaurant called Soup Soup here in Montreal. My biggest piece so far, 45 hours of making knots, blistered hands and a lot of tears.

5. What is your remedy for lack of inspiration?

That happens to me frequently. When I have a creative block, I go do something completely different, like accounting, let’s say.

6. Do you have a personal motto?

Take it one day at a time.

7. What is your biggest challenge as a business owner?

Giving myself a break once in a while. I’m not good at relaxing but sometimes, your body speaks for itself. I always stretch myself a bit too much.

8. Who is your favorite artist?

I really admire Montreal artist Allyson Rousseau, she makes beautiful weavings. I also really love Jessica Grenon, she’s a photographer I worked with for my professional pictures. Their styles really inspire me.

9. What do you love the most and the least about working from home?

I love getting up early and going through emails, getting my paperwork done and even creating a few macrame hangings before my boyfriend gets up! Although I have to say, sometimes it can be hard to focus with my two dogs, the dishes to do, it’s tempting to tackle some domestic chores when I’m supposed to be working but I try to stay focused. I need to be very disciplined, to say the least.

10. What important lessons have you learned in your entrepreneurial journey?

It’s not easy and you need to always keep working on your craft. Create your business at your own pace and with your own cash flow.

These handmade baskets were the result of a chat I had with our florist loft neighbor and favorite plant lady, Laurie Anne Atelier Fleur. We both thought that cute planter options for our medium houseplants were hard or impossible to find at a decent price. And so, I suggested we should have baskets made to hide the medium size 6″ pots that are usually used for medium sized plants. We decided to add cute pompoms and golden yellow and vintage purple that made me think of Laurie Anne. (She has the cutest workshop, you’ve probably seen it in our Instagram feed)

We have one at the Baba loft and it’s a survivor! Very tough! So it’s the perfect plant for beginners like me 😉

Aglaonema (or Chinese Evergreen)
– Indirect light or mid-shade. Will survive without direct sunshine.
– Let the soil dry partially in between waterings.
– Spray the leaves 3 times a week during summer.

This plant has more than 60 varieties and we just love it’s luscious green leaves. And it’s resistant! Bonus point: It’s perfect if your place isn’t very sunny.

Aechmea (Also know as Bromeliads Urn Plant or Silver Vase Plant)– Indirect light, no direct sun.
– Always leave water inside the flower
– It loves humidity so ideally spray its leaves 3 times a week
– Water when the soil is dry

Of course, this gorgeous tropical pink beauty is our favorite of these 3 Easy Care Houseplants! Isn’t it just gorgeous? And, did I mention the pink flower lasts really long. In love!

Vanessa Béland is a home stylist, decorator & founder of her own brand Fleur Maison. Her house is filled with pretty details, it’s a modest suburb home but it feels very special, stylish and loved. Her mindset is inspiring, “Play with the home you have” Vanessa has brilliant DIY skills, tons of ideas and most importantly, she’s got the “Pinterest-Eye”. She’s sharing with us her top 5 styling tips to add a luxe feel to a home – Even if you’re on a budget. Scroll down to learn all about these 5 tips.

Top 5 Styling Tips:

1. Paint Your Doors

A simple detail you might say, but it adds a ton of style! Look at these gorgeous pink doors! That pink shade is just perfect, not too bright, not to pale. Vanessa used Santa Fee Pebble #6073-41 by Sico. Her best advice on painting doors: “Take them off and remove the handles, the result is way better when you paint them flat”.

Painting your doors is a fun, inexpensive way to add style to your home decor.

Tip no 2. Mix-up your chairs around the table.

“Shop for vintage furniture on Kijiji or your local charity store. You can find true gems, especially in the suburbs where people throw away vintage treasures!” I love to use 4 identical chairs and then spice up both ends of the table with another chair style. It creates interest and will add some personality to your dining room.

Tip no 3. Hack an inexpensive piece of IKEA furniture.

Vanessa and her boyfriend are pretty handy, I have to say, but this IKEA hack is pretty easy. They simply added a wood panel on an IKEA SEKTION cabinet. You can’t see this on the pic but her boyfriend made a small round hole through the top so they can hide electrical cord inside the cabinet. Pretty neat, right? They usually keep their coffee machine on this cabinet, it’s a clever way to hide ugly cords. Vanessa wrote an entire blog post on how to make one, have a look at her blog right here.

Tip no 4. Add Some Texture

There’s nothing like texture for an instant luxe effect in your home. Make sure to add texture to your bed, on your couch and even on your walls. Pillows are the easiest way to add texture to your decor. If you’re looking to add texture and color, our Boucherouite pillows are texture heaven!

Tip no 5. Decorate With Plants

One of the best styling tips ever! I’m sure you’ve heard me repeat this tip many times before but it’s SO true that I really don’t mind repeating it! Plants are the best to create a beautiful decor on a budget. They not only add LIFE to a room but in my opinion, they tie a house together. And, I’m pretty sure they give a boost to your mood. (Especially during endless winter days) Oh and while we’re at it, we LOVE to use baskets as cache pots, it’s easier (no need to replant) and affordable. Shop our handmade baskets right here.

So many of us are looking for little girl room ideas that are let’s say “more sophisticated” than the typical pink Barbie room and maybe closer to our own grown-up aesthetic but still fun and girly. Our friend Kassandra was kind enough to let us play around with her daughter’s bedroom and create two different looks in Olivia’s room – yet keep the same furniture and wallpaper. It was so fun to create a completely different ambiance just with two sets of accessories. You’ll see it’s quite easy to change things up while keeping the same furniture.

This bedroom look is the one we love to call “Bohemian Princess” and it’s definitely girly. Here’s Olivia, sitting proudly on her cute gold bed. I’d say that the bed Kassandra picked is the main focus point of the room. It’s from Pottery Barn and it’s the cutest thing. We’re not sure if it’s still available here in Canada but we found this cute gold bed from Souris Mini that has a similar vintage gold look. We styled Olivia’s room with one of our cute pink Boucherouite rugs – which are incredibly cute for a girl’s bedroom –

Of course, we had to incorporate our must-have Moroccan Leather Pouf in the room because it’s THE best accessory in any kid’s room. Kids love to sit and play with them and mommy loves to kick her feet up while rocking her little one to sleep or reading a bedtime story. We picked the white leather pouf for this sweet decor. (The gold vegan pouf is also a great pick for a girl’s room) We decorated with touches of pink and whimsical accessories, like this sweet Peace & Love Poster on Olivia’s dresser. One of my faves for a little girl’s room because I just love the message.

Here you can see all the cute details. It doesn’t take much to add a bit of magic to a girl’s dresser.

I love her dark wood antique dressers, they look so grown-up and are not a typical choice for a girl’s room but her mom made magic by adding beautiful flower knobs that add some feminity. You can find lots of beautiful knob options at Anthropologie or Zara Home and it’s a great way to update a piece of furniture. We also added a beautiful gold tassel to make it even more magical. Look at the giant tassel on her door knob, its a pretty cute detail for a girl’s room. We love our Ophelia Pang art print with it’s beautiful pink and red flowers. This art print is so pretty and we love to use it in both adult and girly decors.

In the second decor, we wanted something a little more gender neutral and we were inspired by the “California desert” style to create the look. It’s a little less pink and a little more grown-up. This Boucherouite rug is the perfect rug for a kid’s room. It’s super colorful so it’s easier to take care of, it’s made of recycled fabric and the texture is really fun. We also love the warm color of our tan leather Moroccan pouf.

This look could easily be interpreted for a boy’s room (I’d change the bed, pink pillows, and the poster). The antique dressers and rocking chair are so perfect for this California bedroom. We love these Moroccan Kilim Pillows combined with our African Mudcloth Pillows on Olivia’s bed. It’s the perfect California mix!

The cute dresser details have been changed, and we’ve added some plants, a few baskets and this super cute Yes M’a’am screenprint poster which is a great addition to any girl’s room, it has the most beautiful coral background. We don’t usually think of adding plants in a kid’s room but they make such a great (and inexpensive) decor addition.

We are very curious to hear which of these looks you prefer! I can’t even decide myself, as much as I would typically pick the pink Boho Princess look (I know, I know, pink is an obsession over here) I also REALLY love the California Girl style. As for Olivia, she was really into her Boho princess room! Nevertheless, this exercise was so fun and it made me realise how switching accessories can really change the look in a room. I need to try this in other rooms! I hope these Little Girl Room Ideas inspired you!

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Our Mission

Here at Baba Souk, we love pink, we love rugs and we love textile. We live to be inspired and to inspire. We hand-pick the most wonderful handmade Moroccan rugs with the goal to make your home a happy and wonderful place to live your life. Colors make us smile and if your home could speak, we hope it would say I LOVE YOU.Our collection of Moroccan poufs, colorful baskets and other delightful treasures are handmade objects you'll cherish for a lifetime. Baba Souk, an online boutique, was established in 2012 in Montreal, Canada, after our founder's epic first trip to Morocco. We ship worldwide.